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NFL Predictions – Week 15

No predictions for those games in Seattle and Atlanta. Can’t say I’m surprised that Frank Gore ran for so many yards. I am surprised that it took him so long to get going. He hit the 49ers for 200+ in their first game of the season in San Francisco. This week he put up 25 points in my FFL league and I’m starting out in a deep hole. I sure hope that my big guns (Drew Brees, Larry Johnson, Willie Parker and Maurice Jones-Drew) can dig me out. Two of these guys have to get to Gore’s number for me to feel comfortable.

3 weeks to go. The NFC is still a mess. Seattle is falling back to the pack. The Cowboys are back on track, for now.

Monday Night Football Line

12/18 8:30 ET

At Indianapolis

-3.5

Cincinnati

54.5

The Jets may have learned something from that loss at home to the Bills. With that said, though, it’s hard for me to pick the Jets on the road against any team that has distinguished itself on defense. The Vikings rank 1st in the league in rushing defense. The Jets will have to throw. They’ll have to beat Antoine Winfield and Fred Smoot in 1-on-1 coverage. It certainly can be done, but the odds will be in the Vikings favor for most of the time that the Jets have the ball. I don’t like the Vikings or the Jets, so I don’t suspect this game will go to form, but I’ll roll with the new Jets. New York Jets 21, Minnesota 17.

Vegas is trippin’. The Ravens are 12.5 point favorites against the Browns and the over/under is only 34 points. Talk about predicting ugly. I believe that the Browns find their heart today and compete, but come up short. I like Crennel as a game planner against Billick – and I like the Browns defense to bear down today and get some good results. I suspect that the Ravens may be looking ahead to the Steeler game – and another opportunity to deliver the smack down and mathematically eliminate the Steelers from their title defense. Baltimore 21, Cleveland 16.

I like the Patriots to beat up on the Texans. New England 30, Houston 14.

I like the Dolphins to continue their winning ways on the road at Buffalo. Miami 24, Buffalo 21.

Carolina has been as bad as the Steelers. The Panthers may be a bit more desperate, but they’re alot more banged up – especially in the secondary. Hines Ward is healthy and they’re a different team when he’s healthy. Pittsburgh 31, Carolina 21.

New Orleans should do work against the Foreskins. New Orleans 38, Washington 21.

I’ll take the Titans in a shootout against the Jaguars. Jeff Fisher and company should have adjusted to the Jaguars approach to Vince Young – preventing him from running and forcing him to read defenses. Norm Chow will split the field in half to reduce Vince’s workload, and they could have some big success on 2nd and 3rd down if they able to exploit a short passing game on 1st down. Stay tuned. Tennessee 34, Jacksonville 28.

Mercy Rule for the Bears – Bucs game. Chicago 40, Tampa Bay 14.

Giants at home against the Eagles. Hmm. What to do? All of the objective TV analysts with ties to the Eagles picked the Eagles. All of the objective TV analysts with ties to the Giants picked the Giants. I’ll take the Giants to pull this one out. I believe the Eagles will be really focused, but will need some serious gimmicks to keep the Giants from running all over their defense. New York Giants 24, Philadelphia 17.

Packers – Lions in the WGAF Bowl. Green Bay 39, Detroit 17. 1 Roy Williams quote about how great the Lions offense is – and how “stupid close” the team was to scoring 40 points and winning the game.

I’ve wanted to pick the Cardinals against better teams all year long. I haven’t had much success with those picks. Still, I’m not all that impressed with Denver. They’ve been losing a number of games in recent weeks – as if they’re preparing for next year. Arizona will push them over the edge. Arizona 31, Denver 27.

I like the Chargers over the Chiefs. Can’t wait to see LT and LJ go at it. Should be great. San Diego 34, Kansas City 31.

Gotta take the Raiders over the hated Rams. Oakland 20, St. Louis 14.

Game of the week. The Colts are hosting the Bengals. The Colts will be without Brandon Stokely and Dallas Clark. That’s not a good thing. The Colts defense and offense have been hammered in recent weeks. The Jaguars and Titans locked the door on the Colts and will probably keep them from hosting an AFC playoff game. The race is not over, but the Colts are reeling. The addition of Ricky Proehl is sure to help, but it should not be decisive. Rudi Johnson’s ability to run out of passing formations on passing downs will be decisive. I like the Bengals to beat the ultimate smoke and mirrors team. Cincinnati 38, Indianapolis 31.

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